Year 2014: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a mix of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 2014. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, retail prices, computer and Internet history, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. In 2014, Barack Obama was the president of the United States, and Joe Biden was the nation’s vice president.
2. In December, the U.S. unemployment rate dipped to 5.6%, which was the lowest rate for the year. (Over the course of 2014, the unemployment rate decreased by 1.1%.)
3. The inflation rate was 1.62%. OfficialData.org tells us that $100 in 2013 was equivalent in purchasing power to about $101.62 in 2014.
4. Consumer expenses and the average pre-tax household income both increased in 2014. According to the BLS, average annual expenditures increased from $51,100 in 2013 to $53,495 in 2014. Accompanying the increase in expenses, the average income before taxes increased from $63,784 in 2013 to $66,877 in 2014.
5. About two-thirds of Americans owned their own home. Pittsburgh, Tampa, New York, Cleveland, and Miami were the top five metropolitan areas in the country for free-and-clear homeownership. On the other hand, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Las Vegas, Denver, and Charlotte had the lowest percentage of free-and-clear homeowners.
6. The highest rents for a one-bedroom apartment were found in New York City, San Francisco, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami. Conversely, Detroit, Indianapolis, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Kansas City (MO) had the lowest rents for one-bedroom apartments.
7. In 2014, one pound of potatoes cost 67 cents, wheat bread was $2.03 for a 16-ounce loaf, and chocolate chip cookies were $3.41 for a 16-ounce package. One pound of sugar cost 61 cents, a gallon of whole milk was $3.69, and a dozen eggs were $2.02.
8. In June, the average price for a gallon of gas peaked at $3.66, which was 13 cents higher than at the same time a year earlier.
9. A first-class stamp cost 49 cents.
10. The average income before taxes in the U.S. was $66,877.
11. Americans paid an average of $25,464 for a new car, down $118 from 2013.
12. In December 2014, the median price for a new house was $301,500, while the average cost was $373,200.
13. The federal minimum wage was $7.25.
14. The price of gold declined 2%.
15. In December 2014, the average credit card debt per household was $7,154, up from $6,887 in 2013.
16. On January 22, scientists at the Herschel Space Observatory discovered that water vapor was escaping from Ceres, a dwarf planet that is also “the largest asteroid in the solar system.”
17. On January 29, archaeologists uncovered Sant’Omobono, which is believed to be the oldest known temple from ancient Rome.
18. On February 1, Adam Silver became the fifth NBA commissioner.
19. On February 3, Janet Yellen was sworn in as chairwoman of the United States Federal Reserve. She succeeded Ben Bernanke and was the first woman to hold the position.
20. On February 4, Satya Nadella became the new CEO of Microsoft.
21. On February 5, the runologist K. Jonas Nordby unravelled the mysterious jötunvillur code, which dates back to 12th- or 13th-century Scandinavia.
22. On February 5, Susan Wojcicki—Google’s first marketing manager—became the CEO of YouTube.
23. From February 7 to 23, the 2014 Winter Olympics took place in Sochi, Russia.
24. On March 8, a Malaysian Airlines plane disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. There was no crash site, and 239 people on board went missing.
25. On April 1, NATO foreign ministers agreed to “suspend all practical civilian and military cooperation between NATO and Russia.”
26. On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court “unanimously ruled that the police must obtain warrants before searching the digital contents of cell phones taken from people who are placed under arrest.”
27. On September 7, the asteroid 2014 RC safely passed within 21,126 miles of the Earth.
28. On September 18, in Scotland’s independence referendum, voters chose for the country to remain part of the United Kingdom and not to become an independent nation.
29. On September 22, NASA’s Maven spacecraft reached Mars.
30. On October 3, JPMorgan Chase—one of the largest U.S. banks—announced that “a massive computer hack affected the accounts of 76 million households and about seven million small businesses, making it one of the largest of its kind ever discovered.”
31. On November 4, the Republicans took control of the Senate during the midterm elections.
32. On November 10, human rights advocate Ethel Kennedy—the widow of the U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy—was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
33. On November 20, President Obama took executive action on U.S. immigration. During a nationally televised address, Obama announced that he was “temporarily shielding” up to five million immigrants from being deported.
34. On December 17, President Barack Obama announced that the United States and Cuba had “re-established diplomatic relations after a half-century freeze and called on Congress to lift the long-standing embargo on travel and trade.”
35. In 2014, the Ebola epidemic became a global health crisis.
36. In 2014, the most popular baby names were Noah, Liam, Mason, Jacob, William, Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Isabella, and Ava.
37. The average life expectancy at birth in the U.S. was 78.9 years, and there were 724.6 deaths per 100,000 residents.
38. The average SAT score was 1,497. (A perfect score—combining the results for reading, writing, and math—is 2,400.)
39. In 2014, Americans drove an average of 9,772 miles.
40. Median wealth in the United States was $44,900, which put the U.S. in 19th place with other developed countries. (In 2014, the richest countries in the world per capita were Qatar, Luxembourg, and Singapore.)
41. The average number of people per household was 2.54.
42. The average personal savings rate was 7.7%.
43. The violent crime rate in America was 365.5 crimes per 100,000 residents, and the property crime rate was 2,596.1 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants.
44. In 2014, out-of-pocket healthcare expenses per household averaged $4,290.
45. The cost of a 30-second Super Bowl ad was $4,000,000.
46. Favorite holiday gifts included the Amazon Kindle and Google’s Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media Player.
47. Popular adult Halloween costumes were witches, animals, Star Wars characters, Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, doctors and nurses, zombies, pirates, vampires, and political personalities such as Barack Obama.
48. Fashion trends in 2014 included button-front skirts, off-the-shoulder tops, white sneakers, furry key chains, lace-up pumps, and slip-on sneakers.
49. Time magazine’s “Persons of the Year” were the Ebola fighters.
50. The price of a daily newspaper averaged $1.00.
51. The world's oldest flamingo—83-year-old Greater—died at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia.
52. McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Vietnam. The McDonald’s branch—located in Ho Chi Minh City—had a 24-hour drive-through service and featured both menu classics as well as items that catered to local tastes.
53. Quiznos, the fast-food restaurant chain, filed for bankruptcy protection.
54. Joey Chestnut won his 8th consecutive Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. He ate 61 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
55. After 25 years, Food Arts magazine suspended publication.

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor